The Value of Teledermoscopy to the Expertise of General Practitioners Diagnosing Skin Disorders Based on ICD-10 Coding

Early recognition of skin cancer is vital to enhance patient outcomes. Teledermoscopy (TDsc), a telemedicine service, supports general practitioners (GPs) in gaining fast access to dermatologists' feedback to detect skin cancer. This study aimed to assess if GPs gain expertise in diagnosing ski...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inStudies in health technology and informatics Vol. 264; p. 834
Main Authors Tensen, Esmée, van Sinderen, Femke, Witkamp, Leonard, Jaspers, Monique W M, Peute, Linda W P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands 21.08.2019
Subjects
Early Detection of Cancer
General Practitioners
Humans
International Classification of Diseases
Netherlands
Retrospective Studies
Skin Neoplasms
Netherlands
telemedicine
ICD-10
Skin cancer
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Early recognition of skin cancer is vital to enhance patient outcomes. Teledermoscopy (TDsc), a telemedicine service, supports general practitioners (GPs) in gaining fast access to dermatologists' feedback to detect skin cancer. This study aimed to assess if GPs gain expertise in diagnosing skin disorders after continued use of TDsc, based on diagnosis classification by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). A retrospective study was conducted on TDsc consultations sent by GPs to teledermatologists in the Netherlands (July 2015 - June 2018). GP sensitivity and confirmed cases in diagnosing skin disorders slightly increased over time. However, the total positive predictive value showed a decrease. In three years, 43 melanomas were diagnosed by the TD for which the GP did not provide a (correct) pre-diagnose. Though GPs appear to improve their expertise in skin disorder detection after continued TDsc use, TDsc remains imperative to early melanoma detection.
ISSN:1879-8365
DOI:10.3233/SHTI190340